


The Heart Is A Storybook

by detectivevanilla



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: M/M, Music, Social Media, Summer, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 16:31:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17186477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/detectivevanilla/pseuds/detectivevanilla
Summary: TJ Kippen aka DJ Fruity is the hottest up-and-coming rapper on the game in 2018. Cyrus Goodman is Disney Channel's darling and the main male cast member on their highest rated show, Generation Alpha.When TJ's manager Bowie Quinn, and Cyrus' manager Bex Mack, decide to pair the two together for TJ's new single (which ends up being a chart-topping hit), what ensues is something that neither boy could have ever imagined.AKA the one where TJ and Cyrus spend all summer together going on tour/to awards shows together.





	1. Billboard Music Awards

**Sunday May 20th 2018**  
Neither of them were sure what was louder, the din of the crowd or of the blood cruising around in their skulls. TJ should have been used to this by now, but he'd never done this before with someone else by his side, and the fact that he'd only met Cyrus once before this wasn't helping his nerves at all.

_"30 seconds. You guys ready?"_ Bowie asked.

Cyrus laughed nervously and bit his lip. A woman TJ didn't have the knowledge to place appeared seemingly out of nowhere and tapped him on the arm in an attempt to get him to stop. This probably wasn't the first time he was caught doing that then.

TJ turned to Cyrus and sized him up. He hadn't changed that much from when they met the month previously and recorded the song that started all this. He was a little shorter than him, probably the right height to give a really good hug, which if their performance went off without any hitches then he’d totally do.  
Tonight was a gamble. They knew that, their management knew that, but the world didn't quite yet. Both only 16 and seemingly polar opposites, someone had the bright idea of putting together Disney’s shining star and rap’s upcoming talent for a single to drop tonight of all nights. A complete surprise release at one of the most important awards shows of the year. TJ couldn’t fault Bowie for picking Cyrus though, because he was good, like really good. Their voices sounded great together, maybe even good enough for this song to really be TJ’s big break if he was lucky. If tonight went well at least. 

15 seconds.

TJ placed his hand on Cyrus’ shoulder.  
_“Hey,”_ He said gently. _“Do you remember your cues?”_

_“Yeah.”_ Cyrus’ voice broke over the simple syllable. He cleared his voice and tried again. _“Yeah, just nervous. I’ve never done anything like this before.”_

_“I’ve never done this with anyone else so don’t worry. We’ve got this.”_ TJ said encouragingly, a soft smile plastered on his face.

_“5 seconds, Teej. Wrap it up.”_ Bowie loomed over the pair. TJ paid him no mind at all.

_“Listen, just breathe. I’ll be right there beside you the whole time.”_ TJ almost whispered to Cyrus, before removing his hand from his shoulder and jogging to the side of the stage where a somewhat harried stage manager was waiting.

_“Thanks. Good luck.”_ Cyrus shouted to a retreating TJ. 

_“I don’t need luck.”_ TJ said mic in hand, leaving Cyrus with a wink.

* * *

TJ walked on stage just as the presenter finished announcing his stage name. He definitely should have picked something better than ‘DJ Fruity’, but that’s hindsight for you. Tonight had to go well. This was really his chance to legitimise himself and not be a MattyB wannabe or a shooting star who never quite made it. He wanted to make it so bad he could almost taste it.

The lights dimmed and he took a second to catch his breath. The edges of the stage were illuminated in his signature blue light and TJ jogged to the centre of the stage to make his mark in time. The beat kicked in as the light technician slowly swung the lights from either end of the stage to meet in the middle, exactly where TJ was standing. It sounded exactly as it had the tens of times he’d listened to it that afternoon in preparation for tonight.

Nothing at all compared to the feeling of being on stage. It was a rush like nothing else, especially award shows like these where he had something to prove to people who wrote him off as just another kid who wouldn’t last five minutes in the business. He could feel the bass in his toes, could hear his breath even out as he settled into his favourite place on earth. This is what he was made for.

The beat gained speed as the lights drew closer. If the technician timed this right like it was in the soundcheck then the lights should meet when TJ drops his first bars. And they did.

He had this.  
He just hoped Cyrus did as well.

* * *

Backstage Cyrus was a mess of nerves.  
He couldn’t help himself from moving where TJ had left him backstage to the edge of the curtain as TJ started rapping. Sure, he’d seen him a little in the studio when they’d recorded this song, but this was completely different. This was a TJ in his element and it was mesmerising. 

_“Cy, are you listening?”_ Bex asked, snapping her fingers in his face.

_“What Bex?”_ Cyrus shook his head, bringing himself out of the moment.

_“Cy.”_ Bex said, shaking her head. _“Cy, you need to go on.”_

_“No, I can’t. I’m not ready.”_ Cyrus panicked.

_“Cy. You can do this. I believe in you, Andi and Buffy believe in you, TJ believes in you, but most of all I think you believe in you too. Plus you don’t have a choice at this point.”_

One of the blue lights left TJ and was moving to Cyrus’ side of the stage faster than he would have liked. The light was fast approaching, like a net and Cyrus a fish that couldn’t help but be ensnared. He had to do this though. He couldn’t humiliate TJ on national television by not going onstage. As the spotlight reached a stone’s throw away from him, he accepted his fate and stepped inside.

That was his cue to start singing but he almost fumbled it. One look at TJ’s face however grounded him, providing him with a drop of serene in this ocean of wild he couldn’t even begin to comprehend. TJ was looking right back at him, a small smile on his face, but that was enough.  
Cyrus began singing and TJ’s smile began growing.

The light started it’s course back to the centre of the stage, back to TJ, and Cyrus clumsily followed. He wasn’t a star, not like TJ, but being here on this stage getting to sing this song was more than enough for him.  
This was magical.

The light stopped moving approximately a foot from TJ, right where it should have done. Cyrus turned to face the audience, but with the lights dimmed as they were, he couldn’t make out any faces, had no idea how many hundreds or thousands of people were sitting right in front of him. He exhaled, making sure the mic wouldn’t be able to pick it up and started singing again with a renewed smile.

There was probably only a minute left of the song, sixty more chances to make memories but time was going by too quickly to do anything other than be swept up by the sounds, the lights, the people.

Cyrus held the mic with both hands to make sure that they were occupied and put extra efforts into following the lighting cues which he knew were about to change. He was taken away from TJ downstage left and he made sure to add in a wave to whoever might be able to see him. If this might be the only chance he’d get to do this, he’d definitely milk it for all it was worth.

Too quickly for his liking, he reached his mark and the light commenced it’s journey back to centrestage.

* * *

TJ had never experienced anything like this.

He never thought it would feel so natural to share his stage, his space, with someone who he’d probably spent a cumulative hour with at most but here he was with Cyrus doing just that. It probably helped that Cyrus was so damned….adorable. There really was no better word for it. He knew there was no real way of checking but he could bet that he had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand just by being himself. They made their way back to their marks at centrestage, their voices blending together even better than they had on the studio version of this track, and TJ couldn’t have wished for anything more.

The two blue lights joined at the centre of the stage, closer this time than last, and TJ tilted his body towards the audience whilst keeping his eyes locked on Cyrus. Surprisingly Cyrus did the same. The last line of the song belonged to them, and as it ended, they turned fully towards the audience. 

The technician turned off the blue lights and turned on the house lights. Their song had barely ended before the applause begun, and carried on, and on.

It was a smash.  
They were on top of the world for a moment.  
They were kings.


	2. After The Afterparty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after the night before.

** Monday 21st May 2018 **

Cyrus rolled away from the intrusion of the morning sun peeking through his hastily drawn drapes. Last night had been a late one, and so here he was sleeping in later than he had done in months. It had been worth it though. He’d never felt a rush like that before, not even when he was on camera with his best friends filming. He could still feel the tingly rush that came from the exhilaration of trying something new for the first time and it working out. How it could leave butterflies in your stomach for hours afterwards. He curled his fingers around his pillow to try and get just a few minutes more sleep but the sounds of daytime had already started; cars passing by on the streets below, people leaving their rooms nearby, vibrations?

He usually felt more alert in the morning than this, but it’s almost as though his head didn’t belong to him, his limbs weren’t entirely attached to the rest of his body. After their performance, Bex and Bowie had taken them out for a late night snack of milkshakes and tater tots as per his request. TJ was probably just indulging him which was...strange, he didn’t owe Cyrus anything, but it was fun to just be Cyrus for a while, not Cyrus Goodman - Disney Star. Now here he is, maybe mid-morning and still in bed, probable pillow marks on his face and an incessantly vibrating phone.

He fumbled for his phone for where he thought he left it on the bedside cabinet and after three attempts of hitting a solid surface his hand hit the unmistakable sleekness of his phone. He brought it towards his face to be greeted by multiple missed calls and messages from Bex. He swiped past those for now, she could wait for a few minutes more, when a couple of notifications caught his eye.

TJ had followed him on Instagram.  
TJ had mentioned him on Instagram.

Well, that was enough to clear his head. He sat up quicker than he thought possible in the hotel bed and thumbed open the notification. TJ must have been up early if it was only just after 9am and he’d managed to post this at least an hour ago, but it was good news, great news, so no wonder he wanted to shout it from the rooftops. It was a screenshot for a Time article about last night’s awards, probably something Bowie had found, but it mentioned the both of them, and TJ had posted it mentioning Cyrus.  
Wow.

He couldn’t help but smile as his thumbs hovered over the screen, trying to think of exactly what he could reply with. Whilst he tried to come up with something that wasn’t too much but still let TJ know how much last night meant to him, he decided to follow him back and like the post. When they’d recorded the song, everything was done in such secrecy that they weren’t allowed to interact on social media whatsoever. No follows, no likes, no geo tags, nothing. Neither were allowed to post that they were in the studio or that they were working on a song at all. Bex and Bowie shared the philosophy that ‘there’s no such thing as bad publicity’ just wasn’t true at all. It was a total gamble but they wanted the material to be judged solely for what it was and hopefully there were other articles like the Time one.

He took a breath and just started typing. He had nothing to lose at this point, so why not just type how he felt? He hit send before he could let himself regret it, but almost immediately after he did he wanted to take it back. Why did he say that? It was too much. He should have said something else instead. But before he could go back and change it, TJ had replied, a reply that brought the smile back to Cyrus’ face. He quickly sent a reply back in turn and settled back into the pillows, letting his phone rest screen down on the bed.

The vibrations started back up again, and wouldn’t stop. No doubt another phone call from Bex, but he wanted to settle for a moment with the idea that he could have last night at least one more time with TJ. He felt that too, that he wouldn’t care if they did it in a basement or a mall or a skate park; the feeling would probably be the same. He hoped he would get to perform with him at least one more time.

The vibrations from his phone finally stopped, but just as they did, the knocking at his door started up. He grabbed his phone, threw the covers off himself and made his way towards the door. 

_“Have you seen?”_ They both said holding their unlocked phones at each other.

_“I see you’ve made a new friend.”_ Bex said, raising her eyebrows at the comments. Cyrus blushed and quickly locked his phone, dropping it to his side.

_“What were you trying to show me?”_ Cyrus asked.

_“Billboard mentioned you and the Deej.”_ Bex stated casually, settling into a chair adjacent to the bed. 

_“They did? What did they say?”_

_“Oh, just that you were great last night.”_ The edges of Bex’s mouth curved up slightly. 

_“Really?”_ Cyrus said disbelievingly. 

_“Yes really. They loved you. Everyone loved you.”_

Cyrus leaned against the wall and let himself concede a private small. They really did that. They had really achieved something.

_“Anyway, I have a proposition for you. Get ready, we’ll check out, have breakfast and a quick meeting and then catch the plane back to LA. How does that sound?”_

_“What’s on the menu? Croissants? Waffles? Pancakes?”_

_“There’s at least one chocolate muffin down there with the name ‘Cyrus Goodman’ on it.”_

_“Then I’m sold. Give me fifteen minutes.”_ Cyrus said, walking into the ensuite.

_“Make it five. We’ve got some things we need to talk about.”_ Bex said, gathering up anything in sight she could find belonging to Cyrus.

* * *

The lobby wasn’t as crowded as Cyrus thought it would be to say how close it was to check-out time, but that wasn’t what surprised him most.  
TJ was leaning against the desk, backwards snapback resting leisurely atop his head, staring at him. He directed a lazy smile his way and averted his gaze to a table . Cyrus followed his line of vision and found Bowie waiting, cup of coffee in one hand and a phone plastered to his ear in the other. This version of Bowie definitely didn’t seem as friendly as the one he shared tater tots with last night, but TJ didn’t seem to worried. He turned back to the desk to find TJ but he wasn’t there any more. He scanned the lobby to try and find him, only to see that he’d almost made his way to the table with Bowie, where Bex already was. How had he missed that. He wheeled his small suitcase over and took the seat next to Bex and opposite TJ.

* * *

_“So last night went well. Really well. Better than we thought it would.”_ Bowie started.

TJ looked towards Cyrus and found that he was already looking over at him. He gave him a quick smile and turned his attention back to Bowie.

_“With that in mind,”_ Bex started, _“We had an idea.”_

_“How about you guys do this again? We’ve had a couple of people reach out already like SiriusXM, KCRW and even Good Morning America. It’ll be in a couple of weeks time but it’ll give you time to get to know each other better and prepare for it.”_ Bowie suggested.

_“There might be another opportunity next month if this all goes well, but that’s kind of more dependent on Cyrus.”_ Bex said.

_“Me?”_ Cyrus asked quizzically. 

_“Yep, you buddy.”_ Bowie said.

_“It can’t depend on me. I’m terrible at being dependable.”_ Cyrus said anxiously.

_“Bex tells me you’re plenty dependable. You’ll be fine. Just spend some time with TJ and if you want to do this we’ll sort it all out.”_ Bowie reassured.

TJ looked at Cyrus even though he already knew his answer. He knew it when he saw the Time article this morning. He knew it when he was on stage last night. Sure, Cyrus himself was a mystery to him, and this could definitely be one of the biggest mistakes of his life, but if that was the case then why did it feel like the exact opposite right now?

_“I want to do it.”_ TJ said, looking at Bowie almost defiantly.

Cyrus looked somewhat stunned.

_“Are you sure?”_ Both Bowie and Cyrus asked.

_“Yeah. I want this. Do you Cy?”_ TJ enquired.

The use of the nickname seemed to stun him even more. 

_“Yeah,”_ Cyrus paused to lick his lips. _“Yeah, I think I want this too.”_

_“Cyrus, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”_ Bex assured.

_“No. I want to.”_ Cyrus said calmly.

_“Then I’ll see you in New York in two weeks.”_ Bowie said smiling.

_“See you soon, Cy.”_ TJ said with a small smile.

 

Cyrus never did get that muffin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. You will have to suspend belief for some of this fic. I apologise. I'm trying to be as accurate as possible both to real life and AM canon but it's not entirely possible.  
> 2\. We're going multimedia! If I could write TJ & Cyrus' song and record it and put it in here then I totally would but alas.  
> 3\. We're going to New York (but maybe not quite yet).  
> 4\. I'll try to update as soon as I can but it won't be as quick as this update. Sorry guys.
> 
> Thank you for reading and we will get these boys together for more than five minutes soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!  
> I'll try to update as much as possible. I have this all planned out so it's just writing it/making sure it's decent enough to post and we should be golden.
> 
> This isn't beta read because I don't actually have any AM mutuals so if you spot any mistakes then let me know and I'll fix them.
> 
> Anyway thank you for reading and fingers crossed you won't hate me by the end of this.


End file.
